I'm only about half through, but I'll watch to the end, I promise. I'll be checking out some more of your videos as well. Like you, I've got 3 children that have been home schooled, mainly by my amazing wife. The oldest just finished her first year of college. One piece of advice that I heard recently, and really fits with what I did, is to just do it. If you wait until you have all the pieces perfect and ready, you'll be waiting a long time. I'm still growing and learning and trying to improve all the time. I can't compete with the large channels for various reasons, not the least of which is time. Oh, and the link to Patrick's channel in your description doesn't work. I did find him via a search, but thought you'd want to know.
Hey Craig. Thanks for the link feedback - I'll make sure to fix that asap! I've subbed to your channel too - it's great to see other small channels coming up. And yes - the concept of "I'll do it when the time is right"... the time is almost never "right"! And even if you stumble when you start - it's better to at least have started than not. And all those bigger channels - they started right where we are. Once upon a time, even Peter McKinnon probably only had his Mum subscribed. lol. But yes - time is totally different when you have other responsibilities. That's why all my stuff so far is just talking head - it's the easiest for me to produce - lowest hanging fruit, if you will. One day I'd love to be out there getting amazing b-roll, but I just don't understand my camera well enough for that to be easy. I'm starting where I'm at - but I do have some pretty big self-improvement goals. It just means I need to be a lot more strategic about upleveling - AND really push myself out of my comfort zone. And instead of just upleveling one thing at a time, I'm trying to do a tonne this year, so it's kind of all being thrown in together. lol. It's weird - cos when you finally start to get good photography work - it's kind of like you don't want your videography, or other area's your testing in, to be less than the new standard you've set yourself - but every area is a new journey - so I've made peace with my work looking all over the place. I'll make sure to go check out some of your video's too! :)
I just had to write and say thank you for your videos. I have been thinking about doing stock for a few years now. I even ran into a woman that worked for a stock site, and she said I should be putting shots on stock. Unfortunately I am the type of person that has to research everything to death before starting. After watching your videos I have decided to go for it and figure things out as I go. I am going to start with one site and build from there. Which would you recommend. Again, Thank You. Regards, Jack
Hey Jack! What a neat comment to wake up to this morning! :) I am also the kind of person that likes to do a million amounts of research - I think as you get older you realise that there's always more to something than you thought there was, so you become a little paranoid about moving forward until you've got "all the info". lol. At least, that's how I felt. In the end, after YEARS of wanting to do things and never moving forward, I've decided just to do them - and if I fail, at least I tried it and I can try again or make a decision at least from being on the other side. As for sites - I'd definitely recommend Shutterstock to begin with - they have a great interface and it's easy to use, plus they generally let you know within a few days - I think it's taken like a week at the latest to get a yes/no answer from them. And they give pretty good feedback on one's they decide not to take so you can adjust from there. After that I'd go to Adobe. I'm actually changing my strategy this month and dropping DepositPhotos, Alamy and Pond5 - all 3 of their back end systems are - clunky - is probably the best word. And I get no sales at all from them. I'm thinking of starting up with Getty/iStock - so I'll probably cover that in my next video too. But definitely - start with Shutterstock and go from there. And remember - just build your portfolio, it's definitely not an overnight success, and the people who do really well with it, have been building portfolio's over years. So don't give up too soon. :) Best of luck.
You're doing well. Stick with it!
Thanks Jim! Still lots to learn, but loving it. :)
I'm only about half through, but I'll watch to the end, I promise. I'll be checking out some more of your videos as well. Like you, I've got 3 children that have been home schooled, mainly by my amazing wife. The oldest just finished her first year of college.
One piece of advice that I heard recently, and really fits with what I did, is to just do it. If you wait until you have all the pieces perfect and ready, you'll be waiting a long time. I'm still growing and learning and trying to improve all the time. I can't compete with the large channels for various reasons, not the least of which is time.
Oh, and the link to Patrick's channel in your description doesn't work. I did find him via a search, but thought you'd want to know.
Hey Craig. Thanks for the link feedback - I'll make sure to fix that asap! I've subbed to your channel too - it's great to see other small channels coming up. And yes - the concept of "I'll do it when the time is right"... the time is almost never "right"! And even if you stumble when you start - it's better to at least have started than not. And all those bigger channels - they started right where we are. Once upon a time, even Peter McKinnon probably only had his Mum subscribed. lol. But yes - time is totally different when you have other responsibilities. That's why all my stuff so far is just talking head - it's the easiest for me to produce - lowest hanging fruit, if you will. One day I'd love to be out there getting amazing b-roll, but I just don't understand my camera well enough for that to be easy. I'm starting where I'm at - but I do have some pretty big self-improvement goals. It just means I need to be a lot more strategic about upleveling - AND really push myself out of my comfort zone. And instead of just upleveling one thing at a time, I'm trying to do a tonne this year, so it's kind of all being thrown in together. lol. It's weird - cos when you finally start to get good photography work - it's kind of like you don't want your videography, or other area's your testing in, to be less than the new standard you've set yourself - but every area is a new journey - so I've made peace with my work looking all over the place. I'll make sure to go check out some of your video's too! :)
You’ve spoken to me 👌🏾
I'm glad my video resonated with you!
I just had to write and say thank you for your videos. I have been thinking about doing stock for a few years now. I even ran into a woman that worked for a stock site, and she said I should be putting shots on stock. Unfortunately I am the type of person that has to research everything to death before starting. After watching your videos I have decided to go for it and figure things out as I go. I am going to start with one site and build from there. Which would you recommend. Again, Thank You.
Regards, Jack
Hey Jack! What a neat comment to wake up to this morning! :) I am also the kind of person that likes to do a million amounts of research - I think as you get older you realise that there's always more to something than you thought there was, so you become a little paranoid about moving forward until you've got "all the info". lol. At least, that's how I felt. In the end, after YEARS of wanting to do things and never moving forward, I've decided just to do them - and if I fail, at least I tried it and I can try again or make a decision at least from being on the other side. As for sites - I'd definitely recommend Shutterstock to begin with - they have a great interface and it's easy to use, plus they generally let you know within a few days - I think it's taken like a week at the latest to get a yes/no answer from them. And they give pretty good feedback on one's they decide not to take so you can adjust from there. After that I'd go to Adobe. I'm actually changing my strategy this month and dropping DepositPhotos, Alamy and Pond5 - all 3 of their back end systems are - clunky - is probably the best word. And I get no sales at all from them. I'm thinking of starting up with Getty/iStock - so I'll probably cover that in my next video too. But definitely - start with Shutterstock and go from there. And remember - just build your portfolio, it's definitely not an overnight success, and the people who do really well with it, have been building portfolio's over years. So don't give up too soon. :) Best of luck.
@@redandthewolfphotography Thanks for the advice